A Call to Peace - Civic Enterprises

Those serving in predominantly Muslim countries in NorthAfrica and the Middle East were also successful in thisendeavor, with 79 percent and 76 percent, respectively,reporting that their efforts had been effective.The goal that rated the lowest among RPCVs was helpingpeople of interested communities meet their need fortrained workers; just 59 percent of RPCVs felt their servicewas very or fairly effective in meeting this goal (20percent very effective). And while the effectiveness of theirservice in achieving the two cultural goals was consistentacross decades, RPCVs in the 2000s were the least likely(54 percent) to report their experience as very or fairlyeffective in meeting this goal. The level of effectivenessalso varied greatly across different regions. Those RPCVsfrom Southern Africa were the most likely to report (67percent) that this goal was met fairly effectively. Thosereturning from the Middle East reported the lowest levelof success (52 percent).While most RPCVs felt needed and welcomed in theircommunities (48 percent said this describes theirexperience very well) and believed the work they weregiven to do was meaningful (49 percent said very well),less than one-third were confident they had achievedtheir assignment goals (30 percent describes very well)perhaps in part because just 25 percent characterizedtheir assignments as “well defined” and felt they wereadequately prepared to carry them out.Figure 2: How well does each describe yourPeace Corps experience?Figure 1: Achieving the Three GoalsIn describing their experiences in an open formquestion, 33 percent said the “best thing” about beinga Peace Corps Volunteer was the people they met, lifelongfriendships they formed, and being accepted andwelcomed by the local community. Thirty-one percentsaid the “best thing” was living in a foreign countryand immersion in a new culture. Only 9 percent said asense of accomplishment in making a difference wasthe “best thing” about their experience.Goal 1: Helping people of interested countriesmeet their needs for trained men and womenThe first goal, transferring skills to developing countries byhelping them meet their needs for trained workers, scoredthe lowest of the three among our survey respondents.It is important to remember, however, that the PeaceCorps founders viewed peace—not development—asthe agency’s overriding purpose. 7 The U.S. governmenthad, and still has, other aid programs and developmentassistance, chief among these today are U.S. AID and theMillennium Challenge Corporation.More recent RPCVs were also less likely to feel neededin the community (76 percent of RPCVs from the 2000ssaid this describes their experience well/fairly well,compared to 86 percent of RPCVs from the 1960s) andless likely to feel their assignments were meaningfuland had an impact (74 percent of RPCVs from the2000s said this describes their experience well/fairly well, compared to 86 percent from the 1960s).Furthermore, RPCVs from the 2000s compared to thosefrom the 1960s were less likely to feel they achievedtheir assignment goals (RPCV responses showed a 9percent decline from 1960s to 2000s), less likely to feelthey were adequately prepared (11 percent decline),and less likely to feel that their projects were welldefined (19 percent decline).7 Ibid.A CALL TO PEACE SEPTEMBER 201113|